Sunday, 25 September 2011

It's that time of year now when our eating habits are changing by following the seasons and that season being Autumn is now supplying much game including venison.

In Suffolk recently I saw www.wildmeat.co.uk accepting Fallow and Roe deer along with rabbit and much more, given this company has several game larders at their disposal, I know they are in line for an exciting time.

But having left Suffolk, I found myself once more in the Highlands of Scotland, here the Gamekeepers and Stalkers are going about their business taking out the red deer which are either of poor condition or are the troublesome stags which maybe causing a nuisance within a local village community.

Here two gamekeepers prepare their quarry of the morning (two red deer stags) for the local game dealer. (Notice the white framed gurney in the background?, this is used to lay your carcass on whilst working on it at a reasonable height and without having to resort getting down to floor level. I use a folding metallic saw-horse as you would for logging, I open the saw-horse and place two small planks of wood in the V-shaped frame, this works really well and it's portable.)

Here these two Gamekeepers were lucky enough to guide some paying guests who stalked the deer before shooting them, bringing in much needed revenue to the estate.

The head keeper ensures he cut's off and saves the stags heads as trophies for the paying clients.

The head keeper then takes care and cuts out the stags penis and hangs it along with the deer carcass for collection by the local game dealer who will cure and air dry the penis before selling it on the Chinese market. The Chinese dealers grind the penis and then supply it as a medicinal ingredient including as an aphrodisiac.

The deer carcasses are then left to hang in a chiller with their fur skins on whilst awaiting the game dealer, as this will assist in the venison from drying out too quickly.

These Gamekeepers were pleased as the local game dealer was paying £2 per kilo dead weight for the venison, this was a good and much needed return for the estate. These particular stags weighed in at approximately 90kg dead weight each.

This Christmas I've told myself to have some venison for my main meal and having seen how www.wildmeat.co.uk make their Venison Wellington with a Duxelles pate, I know where I'm getting my Christmas meal from.